Pondering About Max's

Pondering About Max's is a highly unusual and rare game for the Atari 8-bit. Very few copies were made, and it was distributed from the United States in 1989, when most of the U.S. had moved on to 16bit computers.

The packaging was hand made at a university typography lab; it had unusual details like elaborate copy print in a package made to resemble an a record album; hand drawn art prints as the borders, and the disk itself was a custom made sleeve with graphics on one side and credits on the other (the disk is two sided in gameplay).

The game is actually four distinct programs - the two on the first disk are "The Dream" and "Pondering About Max's". Both resemble Donkey Kong or Bounty Bob Strikes Back, with a main character who has to move about various ramps and ladders while avoiding hazardous creatures.

On side two are "Barroom Brawl" and "Finis" - Barroom Brawl is a fighting game, with the ability to move about in all directions within a bar and fight other patrons, using dodge and punch techniques. Finis is non interactive and tells a cinema story of the protagonist finding a dance partner while a Howard Shore song plays.